30 vs 30: Kids Trying to Be Real Men

[Verse 1] It all kicked off from something tiny Takeo. Oh, sounds like a first name, but that's his last We were trying to save some cash for the school trip snacks So we headed downtown Destination: the discount candy shop But right there, we ran into kids from the middle school two schools over Let's call them "B Middle" for now Takeo got into trouble with those five idiots To put it simply, five against one Yeah, basically a shakedown They took his whole wallet [Verse 2] Next day, we heard the story We'll call our side "A Middle" for now All the A Middle boneheads got fired up "Those punks really think they can pull that?" "Takeo, leave this to us" "We'll settle the score" [Verse 3] Yocchan, our top guy, took command Through cram school, relatives, whatever connections we had We got in touch with the B Middle guys "Give the wallet back and we'll let it slide" "We don't go running to parents or cops" "Idiots got idiot pride" [Verse 4] Somehow, some way, they got it arranged Yocchan in front, our idiot army behind A Middle bonehead all-stars Marched right up to B Middle's gate Rumor had it their leader's dad Was some scary underworld type If we backed down now, we'd lose face [Verse 5] Here they come, a whole bunch of tough-looking kids Like something straight out of a delinquent manga They tossed Takeo's wallet back at us "Sorry about that. One of ours did it" Huh? They're... actually pretty decent? [Verse 6] But both sides had rocks for brains "Don't get cocky, you little punks!" "Yo, what's with that look in your eyes?" A little spark started smoking Then one of their underlings says "Thanks for coming all the way into town" "You little fishing-town hicks" "Go play with sand fleas or something" [Verse 7] Right when it looked like fists were about to fly Both bosses held their crews back "Not here. This is a bad spot" "Let's take it somewhere else" "We'll pick a time and place for a showdown" And just like that, it cooled down For the moment [Verse 8] Funny thing was, they were pretty damn formal about it A proper challenge letter even showed up in the mail Such-and-such a day, five p.m. Location: the field by the riverbank "Each side brings thirty guys And we'll settle this" [Verse 9] Right away, we started picking our side The "Tournament of the Toughest Brawlers" It had started back in elementary school We never finished it But we used the results to pick the squad [Verse 10] By the way, I ended up on the bench Sato, the second-in-command, pulled me aside "Sorry, man. If you show up You might actually kill somebody" Well, when you put it that way, what could I do? I walked away with my chest puffed out [Verse 11] Later I heard that Sato Told every other guy on the bench The exact same thing... [Verse 12] And then the big day finally came A beautiful May morning Perfect weather for a fight The fighters were twitching with nerves since morning Part of me was kinda jealous, honestly Still, even as a bystander, I felt the tension If something happened, I'd jump in B Middle might try to pull something Maybe I'd finally get my moment too [Verse 13] Both idiot armies gathered on the riverbank Headcount clean: thirty versus thirty "Alright then, time to kick this off—" [Verse 14] That's when the sirens split the air Five patrol cars came screaming in Takeo was riding in the lead car He leaned out and yelled: "Officer! Over there!" [Verse 15] "TAKEOOOOO!" "You sold us out, you traitorrrrr!" [Verse 16] They lined everybody up and chewed us out From what I heard, they really laid into us We were just spectators, nothing to do with it "Huh? Me? On the bench?" "I don't know what you're talking about, officer" [Verse 17] Takeo got frozen out for a while "Snitch" "Traitor" He walked around feeling pretty small Carrying that awkward little burden [Verse 18] But looking back on it now Thanks to what Takeo did Most of us got away with At least one less mark on our records [Verse 19] For the record, Takeo wasn't in the fight crew He wasn't a delinquent to begin with Just a normal kid, honestly He only happened to light the fuse [Verse 20] And yet somehow After all that He went on to the roughest high school in the whole region A real nest of troublemakers And somehow, for reasons I still can't explain He even rose to the top guy Why? I still don't know To this day It's the mystery of Takeo The Legend of Takeo